Lessons from Ellmers: How to Ask Questions in a Hearing

Watching and listening to today’s congressional hearing on Obamacare, I heard many Republican members repeat some of the same errors they have committed in past hearings on other scandals. Asking two questions at once, for example, allows the witness to dodge the harder one. Asking an open-ended question allows the witness to filibuster. Preceding a question with a long speech allows the witness to attack the speech. Etc.

However, Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC) avoided these pitfalls and used her limited time to full effect by following a few simple rules: ask yes or no questions, ask questions to which you already know the answer, and be prepared to respond to bad answers with more yes/no questions. Let the Democrats, who have to defend Obamacare, waste their time on open-ended explanations. Watch Ellmers in action here.